


Sapere Aude

by QueenOfPlotTwists



Series: Yu-Gi-Oh June 2020 Prompts [25]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Libraries, Lots of Vampire fiction references, Rated for Cursing and Bakura, Research, Swearing and curse words, Vampire Pop Culture, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:13:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24974395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfPlotTwists/pseuds/QueenOfPlotTwists
Summary: “Dare to know”Atem and Ryuchi have survived their nightly encounter with the cantankerous vampire Bakura who vows to eat at least one of them for summer and “other things” to the other. With the dawn of a new day and an entire pop culture universe of vampire lore at their disposal what are these two teenage miscreants to do? Research, of course!Yu-Gi-Oh June Prompt Challenge 2020Week 4: Air/Day 28: Answers
Series: Yu-Gi-Oh June 2020 Prompts [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1770298
Kudos: 9





	Sapere Aude

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Orochi_Dragon14](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Orochi_Dragon14/gifts).



> Another one up fifteen minutes before the deadline...I seriously need a better system. XD
> 
> Continuing the Vampire Conspiracy series...Atem and Ryuji and Bakura are at it again!
> 
> So this was supposed to be yesterday's prompt but I finished today's early so I decided it worked :)
> 
> WARNING: Rated for swearing, teens being dumb, Bakura being an ass and a really pissed off Atem! Enjoy!
> 
> Gifted and Dedicated to Orochi_Dragon14 for the fantastic birthday fic she wrote me and for being such an awesome friend!!
> 
> Yu-Gi-Oh June Prompt Challenge 2020
> 
> Week 4: Air/Day 28: Answers

“Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places.”—“The Picture in the House”,

H.P. Lovecraft

Atem woke sprawled across his favorite basement armchair wrapped up his favorite Nightmare before Christmas fleece blanket. Ryuchi, still curled up in a nest of pillows and blankets and the TV on a blue screen that said the DVD player had turned off due to inactivity.

Wow, they actually _slept_ , last night.

He caught a whiff of something in the air and his stomach groaned in hunger and sheer delight: something sizzled upstairs, the maplely perfume of bacon, friend eggs and buttery biscuits wafted the air, and something like…chocolate, no, _better_ chocolate chip _pancakes_! “Ryuji, wake up!”

Ryuji screamed awake once the pillow smacked his face. Rolling over in panic, he jumped up, scanned the room like he expected to be attacked.

Atem couldn’t help it. He snorted.

Ryuji glared at him. “What the fuck, man! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

Atem just smirked. “Dad made breakfast.”

All the anger evaporated from Ryuji’s face. “Sweet.” He grabbed his clothes and made a dash for the downstairs shower.

Deciding to follow example, Atem pulled his uncomfortable body into an upright position, Atem stretched his arm up and backward, arched his back, untangled his sleep-stiff legs. Forced himself to stand and then stretched again.

God, he was stiff.

Whether it was from sleeping in the chair or spending the whole night running for his life he did not know, but he knew one thing as he headed upstairs. He desperately needed a shower.

“Morning Dad,” he greeted as he came upstairs, found him sitting at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee. He looked up from the paper and flashed his son a wry, knowing look.

“Morning son.”

Atem rubbed his eyes, still half asleep. “I thought you had a meeting this morning.”

“We did,” Aky grinned. “Finished it up hours ago.”

Atem blinked, desperately feeing like there was some sort of joke that he was missing.

Aky took pity on him and answered. “It’s ten past noon.”

 _That_ woke Atem up, if the bulging eyes were any indication. “I’m gonna take a shower.” He said by way of exit and power walked up the steps feeling oddly like he’d been caught doing the Walk of Shame.

“Don’t take too long,” his father warned in a voice that was far more light-hearted than he meant. “Or breakfast will get cold.”

Atem ran the rest of the way.

X X X

Ten minutes later found Atem and Ryuji, both dressed and freshly showered, sitting at the Sennen kitchen table devouring, greasy bacon, warm dime chocolate-chip pancakes, fried eggs with the yoke the perfect level of runniness, fresh biscuits and downing it all with milk and orange juice. Aky had not missed a beat.

“So how late exactly did you to stay up last night?”

They paused and looked at each other.

“I…actually have no idea, we kinda just stayed up watching movies, and passed out?”

“Typical Saturday night,” Ryuji chimed in downing another glass of orange juice with a satisfied sigh. “Thank you for breakfast Mr. Sennen.”

“Your welcome,” Aky smiled then arched a suspicious brow. “Did you remember to call your father?”

“Ah!” Ryuji jumped up and sprinted back for the basement and his cell phone.

“You called him already, didn’t you, Dad?” Atem asked with an impressed smirk.

Aky sighed. “He already assumed this is where he was, since he’s always here. _Assumed_ being the word I dislike using.”

Atem said nothing. Ryuji’s relationship with his Dad was an odd one to say the least. The man was entirely focuses on his pet projects, not that Ryuji had any idea what they were—and didn’t care—and he raised Ryuji more like an older sibling than a parent. Something that Aky noticed and hadn’t minded, even encouraged, Ryuji’s constant visits and sleep overs. His wide-eyes imaginative side was a perfect match for Atem’s more historical rational.

“So how did the meeting go?” Atem asked, wiping his mouth with his hand.

“My PhD dissertation took half as much time but I am very pleased to say we won’t have to worry about any more budget cuts, at least this year.”

“That’s great!” Atem cheered knowing full just how stressed had been the past few weeks from this. “So when did you get in.”

“About an hour ago,” Aky replied checking the clock. “You two were still asleep so I thought I’d make us come breakfast. You do didn’t do anything stupid like get drunk last night did you?” He said it as a joke, but there was a quiet sternness to his smile and a secret, seriously glint in his eye that Atem had learned long ago not to dismiss.

“No, Dad, we didn’t get drunk,” Atem put down his utensils and offered his most honest smile. “Promise.” Because it was true. He just really hoped that his Dad wouldn’t notice how he _hadn’t_ argued that they did something stupid.

They certainly did.

 _Very. Very._ Stupid.

“Good to know,” that calm fatherly smile returned. Too late Atem noticed the playful twinkle in his aged crimson eyes. “I certainly don’t want a repeat of the _last_ time.”

Atem almost spat out his milk and shot his father a look of betrayal. Aky swallowed a laugh.

“Da-ad!” Atem’s forehead dropped into his folded arms, drawing out the vowel in a single, mortified whine. “I was _fifteen_ ….and heartbroken…” he complained from his folded arms in defense, his scarlet eyes peeking out from the shadow of his bangs as he muttered “And very, _very_ stupid.”

Funny how _little_ things changed.

“Dad knows I’m still alive, we’re good.” Ryuji swaggered up the steps and back into the kitchen, froze when it took in the odd scene: Aky laughing, Atem with his face buried in his arms and the sliver of his eyes looking like he wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him whole. “What did I miss?”

“Dad’s torturing me!” Atem looked up, eyes blazing.

“Oh don’t be so dramatics,” Aky ruffled his hair, but Atem swatted him away. “I _may_ have brought up New Year’s Eve to years ago?”

Ryuji’s nose crinkled as he turned to his best friend. “The one where I slept in the bath rub ‘cause you were puking your guts out?”

Atem’s face sank back into his arms. “The one where I caught Jack going at with Yusei Fudo who _also_ didn’t know that he was cheating, got smashed and ranted about it to anyone who would listen. Yes, _that_ one.”

Ryuji laughed and plopped back into his chair. “Oh…man…thank _god_ I was the designated driver. I got blackmail on _everyone_ that night. Kaiba _still_ death glares me every day in homeroom.”

Atem couldn’t help laughing at that.

“Boys…” Aky said in that half-warning tone of his though even he couldn’t hide his chuckle. The man sighed. “So what are your plans for the day?”

“We’re going to the library,” Atem said quickly, ignoring Ryuji almost chocking on his the biscuit he swiped and downed a glass of milk to wash it down

“Anything in particular?” Aky asked his interest clearly peek. “Or just homework.”

“Research,” Ryuji chimed in after finishing off his milk.

“For school?” Aky asked with an arched brow.

“Sort of,” Atem explained, all confidence. “Haven’t decided yet.”

“Well,” Aky rose from his chair. “In that case, since I finally have a day off for the first time in ages, I think I’m going to enjoy it. Will you to be home for dinner?”

“Yes,” they said in perfect unison.

Aky smiled and was just about to leave when Atem asked “Hey Dad? Do you know if there were vampires in Ancient Egypt?”

Aky paused, not the least bit suspicious and tapped his chin in thought. “Well, I’m no expert but there are some theories that vampires were created from sorcery in the Ancient world including Egypt, but to be honest, Son, I suspect _every_ culture and country in the world has at least one vampire related myth.” And took long sip of coffee and headed out on to the back porch.

He didn’t notice the color draining from his son and his best friend’s faces.

“I just thought of something…” Ryuji admitted, still white-faced, made all the more unusual by his dark tan.

“What’s that,” Atem groaned.

“If we’re gonna literally research an actual vampire, then we’re gonna have to do this two different ways: one where vampires are undead creatures or, if your dad is right, research then as a separate _species_.”

Realization of what his friend was saying widened Atem’s eyes. “This is gonna be a lot harder than we thought.” He exhaled a huge sigh. “I’ll get my steno bad and meet you at your car.”

“Can we stop by my place first? I wanna change and get a bag of beans, or rice.”

Atem stopped, and arched a suspicious brow as he eyes his friend. “Why?”

Ryuji grinned. “Several sources list that vampires have a counting compulsion for rice, beans and or bean related items and before you say anything because I _know_ that look in your eyes, _no_ my resources is _not_ Buffy or any vampire TV show.”

Atem shook his head and sighed. “I’m gonna wait in the car.”

X X X

One of the benefits of living in a small town with a major university just outside town was access to all the best research. Especially when one knew someone that worked there, and Atem and Ryuji both had spent many an evening in the history department’s archives and exploring the library’s stacks in Junior High on days when his dad had to work late (and Ryuji’s was…somewhere) and they was too young to stay home alone.

Domino University Library was twice the size of the local public one which had been renovated from a family home donated by one of the town’s founders and Atem and Ryuji knew how to navigate all five floors like the backs of their hands—which was exactly why they set up shop on the second floor where the Adult and Young Adult Fiction sections were in one huge wing adjacent to the Adult Non-Fiction section and the main hallway offered both access to the public computers and a separate table to dump their stuff, stack books and Atem could keep his steno pad.

Plus it got them away from all the college students and gamers overcrowding the computer labs and tables on the first floor.

“Okay,” Ryuji cracked his fingers movie style, plopped down at one of the public computers and signed in with his public library card. “How are we doing this?”

“Hold on, I’m almost in,” Atem held off and opened the card catalogue. “Alright, I guess we’ll start with the card catalogue. I guess we’ll just start with the basics and then narrow it down.”

“Typing in vampire.” Ryuji’s fingers danced across the keyboard. “Preparing for onslaught in three…two…”

Ryuji’s jaw literally dropped. Atem’s eyes bulged. When they looked at each other they found a mirror of their own shock. “Did you get 4,004 results too?”

“Ye-up.” Atem groaned out the word. “Alright, we can do this. Narrow it down to stuff in this library and just Adult and YA.”

“Why YA?” Ryuji asked.

“Pop culture,” Atem answered without missing a beat.

“Good call.” Ryuji gave him a thumbs up. “Pretty sure anything we might find in the kids section will be covered by other sources anyway. Wanna do our usual then?”

“You take Fiction, I take Non? Deal!” Atem said without missing a beat. “Deal.” He immediately started writing down call numbers.

“That might be harder than we think…There’s still at least 1,000 results here?”

“Well, Dad always says when you’re primary stuff, the older the better, but with secondary you want the most recent ‘cause it’s gonna have the most accurate facts, so let’s treat the books like Primary sources and assume everyone one else got it from those,” Atem suggested.

“Copyright backwards, got it.” Ryuji typed in the results and started weaving through book lists.

X X X

“Alright!” Ryuji slammed down a huge stack of books on the table, making Atem jump and neatly lost his place in _Vampires: The Myths, Legends and Lore_ he was currently taking notes on after fact-checking the freelance author’s background and list of non-fiction sources.

Atem spied the literal tower of books, his reading glasses slipping down his nose. “The hell did you do? Grab everything?” Atem gaped staring.

“Hey,” Ryuji snapped, indignant and smacked the top of the book stack. “ _This_ is the result of nearly an _hour_ of _mining_ , and I mean _actually_ mining by the way, through a virtual _avalanche_ of Goth sex crap, Twilight rip-offs and Buffy remakes. That said,” he shoved the pile forward and pulled out the titles one by one. “I divided this up into two categories: the ones where vamp’s are undead and the ones where vamps are kind of a different race.”

He halved the pile and say down. “That said, here are the classics: we’ve got: _Carmilla, Feast for Blood,_ the first of them all,” He held up a copy of _The Vampyre_. “The original vampire bible that no collection should be without…” He plopped down a modern reprint of Bram Stroker’s classic. “More recent works chosen for their author’s devotion to research, we have: _Fevre Dream_ , don’t look at me like that, Martin researched _Game of Thrones_ for twenty years before he started writing it, he did the same thing with this book, I checked. Moving on, I also got, _The Vampire Tapestry,_ another biological vampire, you’re welcome, from the Queen of the Damned, herself, _Interview with the Vampire,_ from Ameila Atwater Rhodes who critics call her successor, _In the Forests of the Night,_ From the King himself, _Salem’s Lot,_ skipping the romantic vampire phase entirely, next we’ve got _Dead until Dark_ —“

“Wait, _True Blood_? You’re using _that_ as a source?” Atem shot up, incredulous and indignant.

“Here me out,” Ryuji held up his hands in defense. “The show is crap, I will _not_ fight that, but the books are surprisingly good _and_ Harris did a lot of research in building her world so it couldn’t hurt. Same thing with _Marked_ from _House of Night_ and ” He held up the book as evidence. “They’re not great _but_ they follow the ‘vampire as separate species’ thing we’re looking into, so I figured they were worth a shot, same with the rest of these.” He gestured to the rest of the stack and plopped down in his chair. “Fortunately, I’ve read enough of these that I can find the info passages we need and then we can cross reference.” He released a huge sigh of relief like he’d been holding his breath for several minutes. “So,” he took a breath. “What have you learned?”

“Not much,” Atem sighed and snapped _Vampires: the myths, legends and lores_ closed over his finger. “This one hasn’t really told me much that _The Everything Vampire Book_ hasn’t already. I haven’t looked through the other ones through, but it did have this…” He flipped open the cover and pointed to a line in read on the contents page. Ryuji read the words _Vampires from Around the World_. “My dad wasn’t kidding. _Every_ place has its own version of a vampire.” He turned the book around and flipped through it. “I’m pretty sure we can rule out most of these for our vamp, though. Still, it definitely opens up some questions.”

“Ones, that just short of asking him outright, we probably won’t get an answer too, right?” Ryuji leaned his head in his palm and propped his arm on the table top. It wasn’t a question.

“Pretty much,” Atem shrugged. “So how do we do this?”

Ryuji grinned. “You’re the history buff, you tell me?” He blazed with confidence.

Atem grinned suddenly in his element. “Well, we can start by making note of every single vampire ‘species’,” he air-quoted. “That we know including undead vampires, we make a list of what folklore says: whether or not the drink blood, burn in the sun, blah, blah, blah. Then we can add to that list, based on whatever new age ideas or research those things suggest.” He pointed to the two piles of vampire novels. “Once we have all the info and we start doing some tests. _Then_ we can cross reference and narrow down what kinda camp _we’ve_ got.” He grinned and pulled out his personal laptop. “Thank God for Google sheets.”

Ryuji flashed a smirk that would make a cheshire cat jealous. “Oh, _this_ is gonna be fun.”

X X X

They stayed until closing.

Though it took all day, and Atem ended up checking out half the books for later analysis, their spreadsheets were complete as was their lists of “test” to conduct and the boys were excited to being what they were convinced was crucial scientific research.

“I thought I’d find you here,” came a dark, velvety sing-song voice that made their blood _freeze_.

They whirled around and there, sprawled out like a Hollywood movie lover across the statue steps, was the vampire Bakura.

Looking handsome and untouchable, in burgundy pants and a silk short sleeved shirt whose rusty red color would not be out of place on a dried blood stain gave the impression of a body suit, hugging every curve and muscle. Two black leather belts hugged his waist and hip, a third criss-crossed over his upper left thigh drawing attention to that area. Black leather boots covered his feet and topping off the look—and completing the vampire ensemble was a dramatically long black cloak that consumed his shoulders and was appropriately pinned with a skull-shaped brooch. It made the paleness of his skin brighter, his white air more silver and his dark eyes even more intense. He looked frighteningly normal in the daylight—like last night’s nightmare was just that, but there was no mistaking those two blinding white fangs protruding from the top of his lip. And what was even worse? He was out. In _broad_ daylight.

As if reading their minds to maliciously destroy any hope they might’ve had of denial, Bakura smiled a full, fanged, smile that showed all of his crocodile teeth. Those lavender eyes locked with Atem’s. “Did you miss me?”

Atem came alive then. His courage returned with a righteous, unquenchable fury. “You fucker!”

Ryuji jumped in front of him, arms spread protectively and his face a mask of grim determination. “How’d you find us?”

Bakura pressed a finger to his nose. “I merely followed my nose. You,” he pointed a finger at Ryuji, his nose crinkled with disgust. “Smell like every whore you’re ever fucked.”

“Hey!” Ryuji exploded, ingenuous with rage. “I’ve only slept with two girls, thank you!”

The vampire ignored him and shifted his dreamy gaze on Atem, “But you,” he sank his all his salacious intentions into that single world. “You you’ve never been touched? You smell like _me_?”

Atem glared at him. Glared at that smiling face. Those confident eyes. The lethargy way the vamp say up, rearranged himself. That come hit-her look on his face like he expected Atem to give in. And let all his rage sink into the two dangerously low words. “Fuck. You.”

Bakura laughed. Threw his head back and _laughed._ “Oh! There’s that spirit!” he clapped his hands delighted. “I always had a thing for boys with spunk.” He licked his lips. “Although, I confess, I’d much rather fuck _you_.”

“Go to hell,” Atem snapped then smirked. “Unless you’ve already been there?”

Bakura snorted in disgust. “Right because I _must_ be some poor undead bitch right?”

“May-be,” Ryuji sang all confidence and slipped his hand into his back pocket, clenched his fist. “You’re definitely a bitch.”

Bakura snarled furious and insulted and flashed his hands revealing sharp black claws. “Do you _want_ me to eat you?”

“Eat this!” Ryuji took a leap of faith and threw out a handful of tiny brown objects that clattered and spread across the ground.

Bakura blanched.

Beans.

 _Brown_ beans.

_Fuck!_

He looked down at the beans at his victims how now sported smirks triumphant with delight, then the beans again, his finger started tapping unconsciously his thigh, the counting compulsion unavoidable.

“Oh my god, he’s actually counting them!” Ryuji cheered. “I am a freaking genius!”

“ _So_ ” Bakura hissed like a beast, smirking as he finished up. This is how you want to play it then? Fine.” He counted the last bean and lunged quick as lightning. “Game on!”

Another handful of beans was thrown in his face. Bakura stumbled halfway through his flight and crashed to the ground with a furious curse. He tried to fight the compulsion, his face scrunched up with the effort but his treacherous cheeks betrayed him and he found himself dropping to his knees with a scream of furious, defiant defeat, forced to start counting again.

“You really do have to count these don’t you?” Atem observed a sudden wickedness in his voice, his eyes alight with a cruel glee. Digging into Ryuji’s bag with such force the boy nearly stumbled under the force of his strength and pulled out an unopened bag of beans. Atem tore it open with his teeth the sound of plastic like a death echo in Bakura’s ears as he ripped into it spreading brown beans _everywhere_. He even kicked a pile outward for good measure. “That’s for that fucking kiss, asshole!” Atem half laughed, half shrieked almost mad with vengeful glee. “And for grabbing my junk! So suck it!”

Oh how Bakura wanted to _laugh_. Oh yes, this one would make a _fantastic_ mate for him, once he’d figured out the best way to tame him.

Still tapping his fingers to keep count Bakura chuckled, looked up slowly from his kneeling state, poured all of his charm and sexiness into those glamour rich eyes. “You say that like you didn’t enjoy it.”

Atem responded by digging out the sandwich bag of rice they also bought and tore it in half.

Even Bakura couldn’t stop his own eyes from widening, or the grim overcoming his face.

“Have fun counting, bitch!” Atem threw the remains of the bag on the ground, grabbed Ryuji’s arm and bolted the rest of the way to Ryuji’s car leaving the cursing, fuming vampire to his counting.

Once in the car and on the way to home and safety, did Ryuji finally ask. “Okay…that was awesome, but…are you…you know? Okay?” He didn’t know how else to ask it.

Atem inhaled a long, sharp breath, then exhaled it in a huff and with it the euphoria of vengeance died away leaving him himself again. “Surprisingly, yeah, I think I’m okay,” Atem confessed, a small smirk pulling at his lips. “I mean, did you see his face?” An actual chuckle and Ryuji smiled, relieved.

“Yeah man, he looked like he was gonna lose it!” Ryuji tried not to snicker, only because he was driving but once they stopped at a red light he let it all out.

“Man,” Atem joined in with a whoop of relief. “Whoever said, revenge doesn’t solve anything was full of shit, that felt great!”

“Glad you got your closure, man,” Ryuji nodded. “Just remind me to _never_ piss you off again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah...LOT of pop culture on vampires...please do not take my comments seriously, I've read everything mentioned and formed my own opinion please form your own as well :)
> 
> That said, hope you all enjoyed Atem on a war-path, let's be honest Bakura deserved it!


End file.
